The formula that can be used to illustrate this Threefold Track is affirmation, negation, and double negation, i.e., one, not one, and neither one nor not one, which reveals the relation of neither vertical nor horizontal among these Three Tracks. In other words, the relation among them is interconnected, and cannot be defined in fix terms. Being together, the Threefold Track forms a merged unity; being separate, each of them exhibits its own function. It is “one” because all dharmas are embraced by the True Reality (dharmata). It is “not one” because the state of Buddhahood is both quiescent and luminous. It is “neither one nor not one” because the tathāgatagarbha as one reality contains immeasurable practices and dharma-doors. Chih-i cites the wish-granting gem as an example depicting the Threefold Track as being one entity while remaining distinctive. Treasure and light are distinguished from the gem, whereby the three of them indicate different aspects, and yet, treasure and light are not different from the gem, owing to the fact that the former are derived from the latter. Apparently, the treasure and light depict the Track of the Illumination of Wisdom and the Track of Accomplishment respectively and are the function of the gem; and the gem depicts the Track of Real Nature and is the substance of the treasure and light. Thus, Chih-i names the Threefold Track as the inconceivable dharma. (Vol. 2, Page 246)
The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of BuddhismMonthly Archives: December 2018
Day 19
Day 19 concludes Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices, and begins Chapter 15, The Appearance of Bodhisattvas from Underground.
Having last month considered the power of the Lotus Sūtra, we consider the dream of a Bodhisattva.
He will see only wonderful things in his dream.
He will dream:
‘Surrounded by bhikṣus,
The Tathāgatas are sitting
On the lion-like seats,
And expounding the Dharma.’He also will dream:
‘As many living beings, including dragons and asuras,
As there are sands in the River Ganges
Are joining their hands together
Towards me respectfully,
And I am expounding the Dharma to them.’He also will dream:
‘The bodies of the Buddhas are golden-colored.
They are emitting innumerable ray of light,
And illumining all things.
The Buddhas are expounding all teachings
With their brahma voices.
I am among the four kinds of devotees
To whom a Buddha is expounding
The unsurpassed Dharma.
I praised the Buddha
With my hands joined together.
I heard the Dharma from him with joy.
I made offerings to him, and obtained dharanis.
I also obtained irrevocable wisdom.
The Buddha knew
That I entered deep into the Way to Buddhahood.
So he assured me of my future attainment
Of perfect enlightenment, saying:
‘Good man, in your future life,
You will be able to attain immeasurable wisdom,
That is, the great enlightenment: of the Buddha.
Your world will be pure and large
Without a parallel.
There will be the four kinds of devotees there.
They will hear the Dharma from you
With their hands joined together.’
The Daily Dharma from Aug. 16, 2017, offers this:
He will see only wonderful things in his dream.
He will dream:
‘Surrounded by bhikṣus,
The Tathāgatas are sitting
On the lion-like seats,
And expounding the Dharma.’
The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Fourteen of the Lotus Sūtra, speaking of those who keep and practice the Wonderful Dharma. Dreams for many of us can be frightening places. They can be where we relive bad situations in our past or develop fantastic scenarios for disasters in the future. When we accept our nature as Bodhisattvas, and live assured of our future enlightenment, we find that even the thoughts over which we have no control begin to harmonize with the world around us. When we learn to recognize the Buddha in our everyday lives, our old traumas become vehicles for compassion.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
The Merit of Ingyō
When we devote ourselves to the Buddha and the Lotus Sutra, we are also included in the great life of the Buddha. Moreover, it is also ourselves getting included in the Great Mandala, because our practice of the Bodhisattva way as messengers of the Buddha are also activities of the nine realms among the ten realms in the Great Mandala. For example, Kishimojin is included in the Great Mandala. So the activities of Kishimojin are also the activities of the nine realms of the Great Mandala, especially the realm of asura (angry devils). The virtues of Kishimojin’s activities are also the merits of the Great Mandala, or even merits of the Original Buddha. Likewise, as we practice the Bodhisattva way as messengers of the Buddha, our virtues are not only our own but also the Buddha’s merits. This is the merit of Ingyō.
Buddha Seed: Understanding the OdaimokuDaily Dharma – Dec. 29, 2018
He was patient, gentle,
And friendly with others.
Even when many evils troubled him,
His mind was not moved.
The Buddha sings these verses in Chapter Seventeen of the Lotus Sūtra. This stanza is his description of the Bodhisattva perfection of patience. As with all the perfections, these are qualities we cultivate, rather than something to use to judge how close we or anybody else is to enlightenment. As we progress in these perfections, our view of the world is less obscured by our own mental formations. We begin to see the world for what it is, and each other for what we are.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
The Dynamic Power of Practice in the Actual World
Tamura [Yoshirō] acknowledges the presence of certain passages strongly suggestive of hongaku thought even in unimpeachable documents from the latter part of Nichiren’s career. Nichiren writes, for example, that “this world is the [Buddha’s] original land; the pure lands of the ten directions are defiled worlds that are its traces, or, “Śākyamuni of wondrous awakening (myōkaku) is our blood and flesh. Are not the merits of his causes (practice) and effects (enlightenment) our bones and marrow? ” However, Tamura says, on close examination such writings, “while maintaining nondual original enlightenment as their basis, in fact emerge from it.” Nichiren’s “Śākyamuni of wondrous awakening” is no mere abstract, all-pervasive Dharma-body but also encompasses the virtues of the reward-body Buddha who has traversed practice and attainment, as well as the concreteness of the manifested body, the historical Buddha who appeared in this world. Nor was Nichiren content merely to assert that this world is the Buddha’s pure land; he attempted actually to realize the pure land in this present world through bodhisattva conduct, by spreading faith in the Lotus Sūtra. As in the case of Dōgen, Nichiren’s emphasis on the concrete (ji) is not the affirmation of the phenomenal world seen in medieval Tendai hongaku thought but an emphasis on action that “restored the dynamic power of practice in the actual world.” Like Dōgen, Nichiren maintained the ontological nonduality of the Buddha and living beings as his basis, but “descended” to confront the relative distinctions of the world. (Page 91)
Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese BuddhismThe Threefold Track in the Perfect Teaching
Obviously, the Threefold Track in the Perfect Teaching represents the One Buddha-vehicle, and demonstrates the state of Buddhahood, which cannot be perceived by the practitioner of the other three teachings (Tripiṭaka, Common, and Separate). In view of the fact that they have not understood the Threefold Track of the Perfect Teaching, Chih-i points out that these Three Tracks become three hindrances. Why is this? If one has not severed the delusion of lacking sufficient knowledge of saving beings within and beyond the three realms, this means that one is not yet able to grasp immeasurable dharma-doors, which hinders one’s perception of the tathāgatagarbha. If one has not severed the delusions of false views and wrong attitudes, this means one is not able to fully perceive the nature of emptiness, which hinders one’s perception of the Supreme Meaning of Emptiness. If one has not severed fundamental ignorance, this indicates that one is not yet able to realize the True Reality that lies in all dharmas and prevents the supreme principle of the True Reality from being revealed. (Vol. 2, Page 246)
The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra: Tien-tai Philosophy of BuddhismDay 18
Day 18 concludes Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra, and begins Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices.
Having last month concluded Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra, be being Chapter 14: Peaceful Practices with Mañjuśrī’s question.
Thereupon Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, the Son of the King of the Dharma, said to the Buddha:
“World-Honored One! These Bodhisattvas are extraordinarily rare. They made a great vow to protect, keep, read, recite and expound this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in the evil world after your extinction because they are following you respectfully. World-Honored One! How should an [ordinary] Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas expound this sūtra in the evil world after [your extinction]?”
The Buddha said to him:
“A Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who wishes to expound this sūtra in the evil world after [my extinction] should practice four sets of things.
I’m preparing to publish beginning Jan. 1, 2019, quotes from Nichiren’s writings that I gathered during my 100 Days of Study this year. My hope is to incorporate these quotes in my Lotus Sūtra discussion where appropriate. As an example, I offer this quote from Hokke Shuyō Shō, Treatise on the Essence of the Lotus Sūtra:
QUESTION: For whom was the Lotus Sūtra expounded?
ANSWER: There are two views about the eight chapters from chapter 2 on the “Expedients” to chapter 9 on the “Assurance of Future Buddhahood” of the Lotus Sūtra. If we read these chapters in the order of chapters from the beginning, we can see that the sūtra was preached first of all for Bodhisattvas, secondly for the men of Two Vehicles such as śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha, and thirdly for ordinary people. However, when we read the chapters in reverse order beginning with the 14th on the “Peaceful Practices” (at the end of the theoretical section), followed by the 13th on the “Encouragement for Upholding This Sūtra,” the 12th on the “Devadatta,” the 11th on the “Appearance of the Stupa of Treasures,” and the 10th on the “Teacher of the Dharma,” we can see that these eight chapters were expounded for encouraging people after the Buddha’s extinction. People during the lifetime of the Buddha are secondary. Of those after the Buddha’s extinction, people in one thousand years of the Age of the True Dharma and one thousand years of the Age of the Semblance Dharma are secondary. The sūtra was expounded mainly for the people in the Latter Age of Degeneration. Of those in the Latter Age of Degeneration, I, Nichiren, am the very person for whom it was expounded.
Hokke Shuyō Shō, Treatise on the Essence of the Lotus Sūtra, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 209-210
Never Giving Up, Always Striving
It isn’t easy sometimes to look at our situation and be thankful or even rejoice, especially when faced with multiple and seemingly complex problems. It isn’t easy to always be rejoicing at the appearance of yet one more difficult situation. It is only by taking the test that we can pass. It is only by facing the problem will we be able to change our lives. Never giving up, always striving, holding firm faith, and steadfast practice assures us all of the great benefit of enlightenment. A practice based firmly on the Lotus Sutra assures us of an enlightenment equal to that of all the Buddhas.
Lotus Path: Practicing the Lotus Sutra Volume 1Daily Dharma – Dec. 28, 2018
Great-Power-Obtainer, know this! This Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma benefits Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, and causes them to attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. Therefore, they should keep, read, recite, expound and copy this sūtra after my extinction.
The Buddha gives this explanation to Great-Power-Obtainer Bodhisattva in Chapter Twenty of the Lotus Sūtra. In several places in the sūtra, the Buddha asked who would continue to teach this Wonderful Dharma after his extinction and lead all beings to Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi: perfect unsurpassed enlightenment. When he revealed his Ever-Present Existence in Chapter Sixteen, he assured all those receiving his words that his life is not limited to that of the physical body he inhabited. In truth he is leading all beings throughout all time and space to his wisdom, and this Lotus Sūtra he has given us is the embodiment of that wisdom.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
Nichiren And Original Enlightenment Thought
In Tamura [Yoshirō]’s view, Nichiren ultimately arrived at a position extremely similar to Dōgen’s; however, Nichiren’s relationship to original enlightenment thought must be understood as undergoing change and development over the course of his career. Nichiren’s early writings suggest that he was at first strongly drawn to hongaku ideas, especially the identification of the pure land with the present world. His earliest extant essay, written at age twenty, reads:
When one attains the enlightenment of the Lotus Sūtra, then one realizes that one’s body and mind that arise and perish are precisely unborn and undying. And the land is also thus. Its horses, cows and the others of the six kinds of domestic animals are all Buddhas, and the grasses and trees, the sun and moon, are all their holy retinue. The sūtra states, “The dharmas dwell in a Dharma position, and the worldly aspect constantly abides.”
Nichiren ‘s early writings often employ this nondual standpoint to attack the exclusive nembutsu doctrine of Honen, which he saw as antithetical to the traditional Tendai vision of a Buddhism united in the One Vehicle of the Lotus Sūtra. However, as Nichiren himself grew more exclusivistic in his claims for the sole validity of the Lotus and more critical of other teachings, he came into conflict with the authorities. Beginning around the time of his first exile (1261-1264), Tamura says, Nichiren became less concerned with monistic hongaku thought and increasingly attentive to problems in the realm of relative distinctions, such as time and human capacity. This can be seen in his growing concern with such issues as comparative classification of the Buddhist scriptures; the age of mappō, the capacity of beings living in that age; and the karma of the specific country of Japan. Nichiren’s writings from this time also show an emerging sense of his own mission as the “votary of the Lotus” (Hokekyō no gyōja), who propagates its teachings even at the risk of his life. Especially from the time of his exile to Sado Island (1271-1274), he became critical of the nondual Taimitsu tradition that had formed the basis of his earlier thought. (Page 90-91)
Original Enlightenment and the Transformation of Medieval Japanese Buddhism